Inkjet printers have one or more printheads that eject drops of liquid material, referred to generally as ink, onto a substrate or previously ejected drops of material. Each printhead includes a plurality of inkjets typically arranged in an array. Each inkjet has a nozzle that communicates with an opening in a faceplate of the printhead to enable one or more drops of material to be ejected from the inkjet and through the opening with which the inkjet nozzle communicates in the faceplate. The inkjets can be implemented with a variety of different configurations known to those skilled in the art. Some well-known configurations use piezoelectric and thermal ejectors in the inkjets.
Some of the ink ejected from the inkjets adheres to the faceplate and can collect dust and other debris. If the ink and debris are not removed from the faceplate, then the residual ink and debris may block one or more openings in the faceplate. Printhead cleaning is typically performed within a maintenance station mounted within the printer chassis so the printhead and maintenance station can be moved relative to one another for cleaning. Most maintenance stations include wipers that move across the faceplates of the printheads to remove residual ink and debris that have collected on the faceplates. The wipers are positioned to direct the residual ink and debris into a receptacle for collection. The receptacle is removed and cleaned from time to time.
The wipers and the components that support and maneuver the wipers also collect residual ink and debris. Therefore, the wipers and related components require cleaning as well. Technicians typically perform this cleaning daily and the results can vary from technician to technician. Efficiently cleaning the wipers and related components without operator intervention or further contaminating other components in the printer is beneficial in inkjet printers.